Russians in Turkey told how they cope with the blocking of Mir cards

To seriously rely on the card of the domestic payment system “Mir” outside the fatherland initially seemed to me a dubious undertaking – after all, this is not Visa, not MasterCard and not American Express, which have long been known around the world. Moreover, even in the summer of 2022, many compatriots returning from Turkey said that interaction with Mir was a lottery: some ATM gave money, some did not, in some store they managed to pay, in some then no … Each time hoping for a chance or resorting to cunning schemes (for example, withdrawing money in small portions of 1000-1500 Turkish liras, always letting someone with a Turkish card between these operations – advice from the Internet) seemed much more difficult than just grabbing carry a substantial supply of cash. So I did – I bought for the future, with a margin, dollars. I even laughed a little, pulling out a solid capacious purse from the drawer, which I had not used for several years – the era of digitalization quickly weaned you from having a lot of cash with you at once!

Well, she also put Mir cards in this purse: one – from Sberbank, the second – from the little-known bank Soyuz.

Tourists advise each other: the most chances for success with a world card are in ATMs of two state-owned Turkish banks – HALKBANK and Ziraat. Others are better off not even trying. I set up the first experiment immediately after arriving at the Antalya airport. The Sberbank card was immediately rejected by all ATMs, but money was withdrawn from the Soyuz card at the HALKBANK ATM. True, not much: first, 1,000 Turkish liras (that’s about 60 dollars), then another 2,000.

The next two weeks turned into a total game “Maybe?”. All the dialogues in restaurants and shops sounded something like this:

– Cash or card?

– Let’s try!

The Russian “Mir” was not accepted everywhere. You can’t even look for logic in what is happening. For example, on the evening of September 30, when the decision to completely block Mir cards had already been made, I managed to pay with Mir at the first attempt in a restaurant in Goreme, the capital of the Cappadocia region. True, just half an hour later, the Ziraat ATM spat out the same card with disgust.

Fortunately, thanks to a solid supply of cash, what was happening really could only be perceived as a fun game, and not as a cause for alarm. Those tourists who flew to Turkey, seriously counting on a domestic card, were much less fortunate – and they were forced to urgently come up with cunning schemes for getting out of the situation.

“Turkish ATMs have a cash withdrawal limit. Nowhere did we manage to withdraw more than 1500 lira at a time, and in some places we were able to cash out only 1000 lira. At the same time, we tried to re-insert the card and try to repeat the operation – it did not help. So if you need large amounts in Turkish currency, it will take several days to collect it, ”adds Anna from Moscow.

However, letting a couple of Turks pass in front of you is not a big problem; much worse if the ATM suddenly swallows the card, and this can happen if the Turkish machine does not like the Russian Mir.

“Advice given to us by a person living in Turkey: withdraw money from ATMs at bank branches. In this case, if suddenly the ATM “eats” the card, there is a chance to return it by contacting the branch. If this happens in a stand-alone ATM, you can say goodbye to plastic (again, it’s better to have a couple of cards in such a case), ”Muscovite Vasily shared with subscribers on the social network.

“Blocking Mir cards in Turkey remains an unresolved problem. The second attempt to get cash in Turkey through the Golden Crown system also failed. The only pick-up point that we managed to find in Mudanya on a tip from local residents turned out to be inactive. There is a banner with the logo of the payment system, but they do not give money. Only today they do not give or do not give at all – it was not possible to find out. The girl at the counter said that they don’t give it right now, but she doesn’t know anything else. She advised me to go to Bursa – there should be pick-up points there. Earlier, an attempt to transfer money using the Golden Crown from a Russian card directly to a Turkish one, without receiving cash, failed. The system gives an error. While this is the situation. We are looking for solutions,” shared her experience a Russian woman named Lydia, who is now resting on the Aegean coast of Turkey.

“There are no more queues at ATMs, but they have increased at PPT (post office) offices, where Russians withdraw money through the Golden Crown system. The queues are very long… The situation is similar in Alanya and Antalya,” added Russian Maria P.

A question that can often be found on the Internet: how global is the problem? Many Russians still have an extremely primitive idea of ​​​​Turkey – this country is treated exclusively as an all-inclusive beach holiday destination, so some are perplexed: they say, what are the problems, why is there money in Turkey at all? Paid for a ticket, now eat, drink, sunbathe? However, such a scenario, fortunately, is far from being relevant for everyone – more and more Russians are learning to appreciate Turkey at its true worth and spend holidays not only inside hotels.

Although representatives of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia note that in the current situation, choosing hotels with an all-inclusive system may be the most reasonable solution. It is recommended to stock up before flying to Turkey in cash.

“ATOR and the Russian Embassy in Turkey recommend stocking up on cash when traveling to Turkey – buying dollars or euros or exchanging rubles for lira in the country itself. But there is nothing sensational about it. We recommended taking cash to Turkey from the very beginning, regardless of whether the tourist has a Mir card: and indicated why. Firstly, still not 100% of hotels and shops in Turkey accepted and accept Mir (and cards in general). Conventionally, in the pharmacy closest to the hotel, there can be a “wrong bank” terminal without any difficulties with receiving “Mir”. And the nearest souvenir shop may not have a terminal at all. Secondly, and this is very important: cash in Turkey is needed if you are ill or injured. A doctor called to a hotel under insurance with a franchise will not accept cards at all, ”the explanation on the ATOR website says.

How all this will end is still not entirely clear. A solution to the problem is currently being discussed. Turkish banks offered an alternative to the Russian payment system Mir, which was abandoned under the threat of US sanctions. Instead, they offered to use their Troy payment system. To do this, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation must allow Russian banks that are outside the US sanctions to accept this payment system or open accounts with Turkish banks operating in Russia. Then they will get a card integrated with Troy. However, such schemes are still a matter of a vague future, and not all Russians will want to get a special bank card, which is necessary only for holidays in Turkey.